hiking

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Barnetby le Wold

The second part of The Viking Way starts from Barnetby le Wold, near the railway bridge. There is a car park next the station but it is reserved for staff and therefore street parking can be quite congested. Selfie time.

From Marsh Lane through wet fields

We thought that we took the direction the Viking Way sign was pointing to but that happened to be a wrong road. We walked over a mile all the way to the water treatment facility, Barnetby Sewage Works, before we decided to turn back towards Marsh Lane. A friendly farmer pointed us to the right direction and we started on the track through the fields.

This part proved to be most challenging because we wanted to keep our hiking boots dry and it had been raining a few days before.

However, an encounter with a friendly local made up for all the hardships with the wet track.

Village names ending in 'by'

In this region many villages have names ending in 'by'. This naming practice started during the rule of the Danes about a thousand years ago. Danelaw or the laws of the Danes were followed in the northern and eastern parts of England from the 9th century until the 11th century:

Bigby, Somerby, Searby, Grasby, Clixby

We continue walking on bridleways and public rights of way through fields. Some parts are still wet and some quite muddy at this time of the year.

Bigby

Somerby

Nettleton and The Salutation Inn

The second section of The Viking Way ends in Caistor, but we continue a couple of kilometres further to Nettleton, knowing that it will give us a chance to have a meal at The Solution Inn. As far as we had been able to find out, there was no practical bus connection we could have used from Caistor or Nettleton back to Barnetby le Wold Saturday afternoons, not even by changing to another bus or train. The pub in Nettleton would be the best place from where to organise a cab back to Barnetby. Both the meal and getting a cab turned out to be a great success.

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Barton-upon-Humber

The Viking Way starts from the car park near the Humber Bridge in Barton-upon-Humber in Lincolnshire.

The Humber

First the track follows the mighty Humber river and nearby fields, passing farms.

We keep looking for the Viking signs, attached to fences and road signs.

We walk on bridleways and public rights of way through fields. Parts are still wet and some quite muddy at this time of the year.

Somewhere we have missed a turn. Google Maps are quite useless in these tracks and neither the map nor the description in the Viking Way brochure offer clues where we are. Not to worry, we just need to follow the road in the general direction of Viking Way.

Arriving in small country villages is always nice, but, instead of Barnetby le Wold, we end up in Elsham. We are pleased with today's overall achievement and decide to return to Barton-upon-Humber by bus. There is only one bus stop in the village and we stand next to it. Then suddenly the bus arrives from the opposite direction but I manage to wave and the driver is kind enough to notice and picks us up, even though were were on the "wrong" side of the road.